For Icha-Peekers - "150 years ... and they still don't have it right?" Education in WELS

The quotation in the title is from a former WELS member.

150 years of training for ministry

2015/09/15/in Together

Luther Preparatory School (LPS), Watertown, Wis., is one of our synod’s two prep schools dedicated to training and encouraging young people for the public ministry. This fall the school will conclude a year-long celebration of its 150^th anniversary. Luther Prep is the oldest Lutheran high school in the country, tracing its history to the synod’s first efforts to train its own pastors just as the Civil War was ending. 

GJ - Schroeder claims WELS has always been orthodoxy Lutheran but it never was. The sect began as a union group with a hearty mixture of ministers who were both nominal Lutherans and convicted Reformed - just like today, only the convictions are decidedly more serious, the iron bars more confining for their cell groups.

The celebration will culminate with a festival worship service at the campus on November 15.

Rendering of the LPS chapel renovations.

As part of its anniversary celebration, Luther Prep has begun a renovation of its chapel. For 60 years the chapel has played a central role on the LPS campus. It is the place where the Luther Prep family gathers for worship twice each day. These frequent worship opportunities emphasize the importance of the preaching of the Word, the continuing spiritual nourishment of LPS students and faculty, and the use of God-given talents in worship. The chapel is also the scene of a vigorous program of organ instruction, enabling Luther Prep to train more organists for WELS congregations than any other high school.

One major part of the chapel renovation will be the refurbishment of the chapel organ, now more than 50 years old and badly in need of repair. Worship is central to LPS campus life, and the organ is an integral part of that worship. The organ has already been removed from the chapel and will be installed in the remodeled chapel sanctuary by the start of next school year. The project is being funded through the special gifts received in connection with the anniversary.

GJ - Wake up, donors. WELS is training their UOJ zombies to tear out pipe organs and replace them with rock bands of limited talents. 

The LPS anniversary theme proclaims that this school is all about “Lives Prepared for Service.” We join the LPS family in thanking God for a century and a half of his grace and pray for his continued blessings on LPS as it trains and encourages young people for the public ministry in our synod.

Serving in Christ,
President Mark Schroeder

Look for a three-part series focusing on the 150 years of ministerial education on the Watertown campus, starting in the September issue of Forward in Christ:

• The Hazing
• The Sodomized Sprinter Statue
• The Underage Alcohol Abuse

Our Little Creations Point to the Creator and Are Subordinated to the Creator

Sassy and I enjoyed our morning walk. She does not let me wait past 7 AM, when we often see her pal on the corner and his cat Puss-Puss. Sassy is now best friends with PP and today forged a non-aggression pact with Roach, our helper's cat. They touch noses now instead of Sassy barking loudly and getting hisses. Sassy finally realized that her friendly, loud barks do not work well with cats.
However, our helper's wife loves those loud barks and encourages them with a big smile. That sets off Sassy in a series of loud, happy barks.

I admired the new buds on the Crepe Myrtle bush. All the Crepe Myrtles are gone seed in our neighborhood. I still had lots of color because the flowers were so big, but they were halfway into seed and ready for pruning. If all goes well. we will have a complete set of blooms again. Neighbors notice and ask about it. Crepe Myrtles can be treated as drought-tolerant weeds, but with a little tending, they are outrageously colorful.

For the Crepe Myrtle, I do these things:

1. Place red wiggler earthworms at the base from time to time, though once is enough.
2. Look for extra mulch (shredded wood, grass, leaves) all summer and lots for winter.
3. Water when the maple tree roses are watered.
4. Prune the first bloom off completely and keep the lower part bare for that Lyle Lovett look. The constant pruning below and the annual above spurs growth.

The sunny garden turned into the weedy garden, so our helper mowed down the weeds with his weed-eater. I learned that newspapers dissolve when under water too long, so the value of Jackson Mulch as a weed barrier was reduced by having 7 inches of rain at a time. 

I have a surplus of roses, so that will be a second ring around the maple tree instead of buying more. My $5 roses are really paying off with great blooms and unusual colors and shapes. The extras will be transplanted in the spring.

Beautyberries - new to me -
thanks to our neighboring nursery - Almost Eden.

I tried to form a green fence in our backyard, a  screen to hide the view of the outbuildings and junkyard dogs west of us. Blackberries did not grow well there, but unplanted and unbidden Morning Glories climbed the fence and began blooming where I thought of growing them.

Gardening is fun because we get to enjoy our little creations, which are subordinate to the Creator, no matter how we plan. Gardening failures are an annual expectation, but the surprises make up for them. Pumpkins never matured. Many plants fed the rabbit population, but the sight of hummingbirds on the roses and Bee Balm dissolved my bad thoughts about those cute, lop-eared vege-predators.

Sometimes I begin with something and do not know what to do with it. We had logs and too many ended up hauled away. They made good toad shelters, and I learned from Sharon Lovejoy that I needed more logs for more toads. Boom, the dead tree fell and I had more logs again, a rustic fence across the yard - and free pine cones from a yard sale.

Blueberries in the grocery store made me think about blueberries in the yard, so I soon had those from 1/2 block away and pine needles from the pine cone producers - almost next door.

 Yesterday a truck took the curve too fast and wiped out,
next door to Almost Eden, easily heard from our house 1/2 block away.
No blueberry bushes or beautyberries were harmed.

WELS Coveting ELCA Dogma and Practices - One Woman's Story about Leaving. UOJ Drives People Away

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

No Longer Alone: Perspective of a Confessional Lutheran Woman

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Yesterday, we blogged about the opening of Faith Lutheran Church – a new, independant Lutheran congregation in the Portland, Oregon, area, formed by some 17 Lutherans who were recently compelled to leave WELS for a variety of reasons, and have now chosen to be served by pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America (ELDoNA). We also mentioned that these Lutherans now also feel compelled to provide a public explanation for their departure from the WELS. Today’s post is the first such explanation.

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No Longer Alone
Perspective of a Confessional Lutheran Woman
I felt so alone. Not from God. God had adopted me into His family at my baptism when I was only days old. My faith had been nourished and strengthened regularly with His Word and the Sacrament of Jesus’ body and blood. I knew God would never leave me nor forsake me. But I missed the fellowship of like-minded believers.

God’s House no longer felt like a sanctuary. It had the look and feel of an auditorium, the altar area dominated by a large screen. A steady stream of “announcements” and “not-so-hushed” conversations over cups of gourmet coffee made it difficult to prepare my heart for worship.

The historic liturgy had been deemed old fashioned. The use of hymnals was considered out of date. Music and text changed weekly, printed in “service folders” of greater and greater length.

It seemed that we had grown uncomfortable with God’s teaching on Holy Communion. So afraid to offend, we chose to forego Holy Communion on Easter Sunday out of fear that the Bible’s teaching of close/d communion would make us “look bad” to visitors.

Mid-week Bible studies became less frequent, then absent all together.

Vacation BIBLE School was marginalized with talk of replacing it with a soccer camp because “that’s what a lot of other churches do.” “The B-I-B-L-E” was replaced with songs about pinching cheeks and other things WE do.

A special “Mafia Night” activity was held for our youth on the night before Easter.

Sunday School was “updated,” and no longer focused on a Bible lesson and the memorization of Scripture. There was no offering basket with which to teach about stewardship.

Some things were worse.

Teaching justification by faith as “just as if I’d never done it” was replaced with the child-friendly terms of “objective justification” and “subjective justification.” If I finally understand it, “objective justification” means that everyone is declared “not guilty” regardless of faith, and “subjective justification” means that I believe I am part of everyone. Of course we need a special term to say that “I” am part of “everyone.” And never mind that this doesn’t fit with Scripture, “IT’S OUR SPECIAL MESSAGE THAT NO ONE ELSE HAS!!”

A special Reformation Sunday School lesson includes the text, “God’s Word says that all people are saved.” Where does the Bible say that?

A gender-neutral translation of the Bible is promoted for use in our churches because “no translation is perfect.” Yes, but some are less perfect than others.

I felt so alone. But I wasn’t silent. With each change, God provided the courage to express my concern to pastors, elders, and presidents of two congregations over the past 15 years. I wish I could say that I received assurance that my concerns were valid. I wish I could say that I was commended for “searching the Scriptures” for God’s will in my life. Instead, I was characterized as old fashioned, too critical, or as one simply refusing to appreciate our “Christian freedom.” The decisions had been made, and there was no turning back.

I felt so alone.

It wasn’t the first time. I had journeyed through the synods, each time moving toward one that was smaller, and in my viewpoint, more consistent in practice with what God’s Word taught. But I was at the end of the alphabet; seemingly, the end of the road. Where else was there? What was I supposed to do?

There are faithful Lutheran pastors who provide sermons and even conduct services online. But I wanted to meet together with like-minded believers. I wanted my children to keep the habit of attending church every Sunday.

God is so faithful.

Sometimes, when your faith is challenged, your eyes are opened to things you would not have otherwise seen. Through some of the issues mentioned above, I became aware of others in my congregation who felt the same. We connected with a group of confessional Lutherans who had traveled the same path prior to our experiences. They reached out with love, encouragement, support, and especially the promises of God’s Word as we organized as an independent Lutheran congregation. Pastors of the group made commitments to fly in for weekends of Bible study, instruction, visitations, and services.

God’s goodness and faithfulness is overwhelming. Thank you, God, for Your infinite grace, and thank You for the pastors and members of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America (ELDoNA).

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23 (NKJV)

Don Patterson asks, "What's wrong with Mafia night?"

Patterson staffer Chad White and his wife.
Patterson took Chad and others to the
ecumenical Exponential mega-hot-Emergent-edgy conference
in Orlando.
That is how you become a DP in WELS.